Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Census data: Illinois lags most other states in jobs performance
Illinois’ economy ranked near the bottom in all 11 of its major industries over Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s first term in office, a time that also saw the state rank just 35th in the country in overall job growth.
New data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and analyzed by Illinois Policy Institute also shows that since Pritzker took office in 2019, seven of the state’s major job sectors have actually shed jobs.
Chicago Tribune: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it with those guys’: Jurors see undercover videos of Michael Madigan associates in ‘ComEd Four’ trial
Shortly after being confronted by FBI agents in 2019 and deciding to cooperate in an ongoing bribery probe, then-ComEd Senior Vice President Fidel Marquez secretly videotaped a lunch meeting in Springfield with one of House Speaker Michael Madigan’s most trusted confidants.
The FBI had instructed Marquez to ask Madigan’s associate, Michael McClain, what he should tell ComEd’s new CEO about their scheme to funnel payments to a roster of Madigan-approved allies through a consulting company owned by Jay Doherty, a longtime ComEd contract lobbyist.
Chicago Sun-Times: Johnson accuses Vallas of being ‘dismissive of a Black man’ in TV debate that features both vowing to unify Chicago
Brandon Johnson accused Paul Vallas of being “dismissive of a Black man” on Tuesday in their last televised debate before a mayoral runoff headed for a photo finish in which the African American and Hispanic vote could be decisive.
WTTW: Chicago’s Next Mayor Faces Pressing Public Education Issues
Chicago’s next mayor will oversee Chicago Public Schools during what is expected to be a transformative period.
Whether Brandon Johnson or Paul Vallas wins the runoff mayoral election on April 4, the next mayor will face a number of education hurdles, including the transition to an elected school board, a new teachers union contract, securing school funding and the end of a moratorium on school closures.
Capitol News: Indoor vaping, cat declawing could be banned under recently passed bills
The Illinois Senate passed 68 bills this week while the House had advanced 284 as of Friday morning with hundreds more to go before their adjournment for the week.
It was the first in a two-week stretch of legislative deadlines for bills to move from one chamber to the other. While there are many procedural ways to revive a bill’s language after the deadlines’ passage, the deadlines mark an annual milestone in the session’s final stretch.